Meat Cheese Melt (Print Version)

Tender slow-cooked beef tucked between two melty cheeses on crispy buttered Texas bread, paired with rich dipping broth for the ultimate comfort meal.

# Ingredients:

→ Shredded Meat

01 - 3 pounds chuck roast
02 - 28 ounces red enchilada sauce
03 - 1 tablespoon beef bouillon powder or 1 bouillon cube
04 - 1 tablespoon olive oil

→ Sandwich Ingredients

05 - 20 slices Texas toast
06 - 2½ cups queso fresco (305g)
07 - 2½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese (282.5g)
08 - 2 teaspoons fresh cilantro, chopped
09 - 1 medium white onion, finely diced
10 - ½ cup unsalted butter, softened

# Steps:

01 - Warm up some olive oil in a big cast-iron pan over medium heat. When it's hot, toss in the chuck roast and brown each side for about 3-5 minutes. You want a nice, deep color.
02 - Move the browned roast into a slow cooker. Add the bouillon powder, then pour the enchilada sauce all over it. Cover it up and cook on the low setting for 10 hours. The meat will soften so much you'll easily shred it later.
03 - Take the roast out of the slow cooker, and with two forks, pull it apart completely. Put the shredded meat back into the slow cooker and stir it into the juices.
04 - Heat a pan over medium. Spread butter on one side of each Texas toast slice so they're ready to grill.
05 - Lay the bread, butter-side down, in the warm pan. Stack up ½ cup of the shredded beef, a tablespoon of diced onion, ¼ cup queso fresco, ¼ cup mozzarella, and some cilantro for good measure. Add another piece of bread on top, butter-side facing out.
06 - Drop the heat to medium-low. Let the sandwiches sizzle for 5-7 minutes per side, flipping carefully to get them crunchy and golden while the cheese melts into all that beefy goodness. Use your spatula to take them out when done.
07 - Serve the sandwiches with small bowls of the leftover broth for dipping. Dunking them makes the experience complete!

# Notes:

01 - Save time by buying already-made birria beef and cut down the cooking to around 20 minutes.
02 - Don't rush to flip—slowly toasting gives the cheese time to get gooey inside.
03 - You can make 10 sandwiches with this, perfect for a big group or to save some beef for another day.

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